Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Spiritual Parenting & Indoctrination: An Invitation

Rioters! It's been quite a while since we've had a good roundtable discussion on the Riot, but I think it's high time we discuss the notion of raising our children with (or without) spiritual beliefs.

Inspired by a discussion I had yesterday on social media, I would like to extend an invitation to all the parents out there that would be interested in coming on and discussing the issues involved when it comes whether or not to raise your children with spiritual beliefs.

The discussion will include:

Do you have a particular faith? If so, is it different from your parents' faith? How did you come to it?

Do you share your specific faith with your children? At what age did you start? Are there specific rituals (such as baptisms, naming ceremonies, high holidays, etc.) in which they participate?

Do you expose them to other spiritual beliefs? How do you discuss the differences and similarities between another faith and your own?

The word "indoctrination" gets thrown around when it comes to certain kinds of faiths and practices. Do you feel it is "indoctrination" to teach children about faith or spirituality (or lack thereof) at an early age? Why or why not?

And so on.

Please write to FireLyte@IncitingARiot.com to let me know whether you would be interested in participating in this discussion. It will be held via Skype, and would, ideally, include members of multiple faiths (and hopefully at least one representative from a non-faith group/agnostic family).

As with discussions in the past, you may use whatever name you would like publicly to protect your personal life if you so choose.

My goal is to get this discussion to happen some time in the next week so that it can be broadcast by end of May.

I would love a written response to the questions above as well as any other topic you feel pertinent. I will likely use your responses to assist in furthering the conversation and pose them to the group for discussion.